Thursday, November 6, 2014

An Open Letter to Phil Collins: Please Sing the National Anthem for the Spurs

Indulge us for a moment. It’s the national anthem ceremony before tipoff at the AT&T Center, just 4.7 miles away from the sacred ground of the Alamo. Lights go dim, players line up on the foul lines and the American flag replaces the wraparound stadium e-ads for just a moment.

Phil, this is where you’d come in. Standing between the horns of the Spur painted at half court, just after a TV time out, you’d belt out the Star-Spangled Banner to a packed SA house. As the world’s foremost Alamo adorer, the Alamo City experience just isn’t complete without belting out a few bars of Sir Francis Scott Key’s 1814 jam.

This June, you announced the generous gift of 200 artifacts to a planned $100 million “Phil Collins Alamo Collection” at the historic mission. As a perk, you were named an honorary Texan by the Texas legislature (that’s in addition to your honorary doctorate from McMurry University in Abilene).

Complete the honorary trifecta and sing for the Spurs this season. We promise to withhold all (well, most) “In the Air Tonight” and Genesis jokes. As SA’s most visible cultural export since the 1836 battle, the combo of Spurs and the ultimate Alamo-admirer is the most San Anto thing we can think of.

"This completes the journey for me,” you said when donating your Alamo gear. But opening a Spurs game with your multi-platinum pipes could surely enhance any Alamo experience. Don’t be a stranger. We’ve been waiting for this moment all our lives.